Remote mapping of night lights has been used for decades for mapping urbanization and the global distribution of human activity. Most of this has been accomplished using remote sensing data from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP). The coarse spatial and spectral resolution of DMSP, however, has precluded discrimination of lighting types or spectral characteristics. Recent demonstrations using photography from the International Space Station and airborne multispectral simulations demonstrate significant potential, but high-spectral-resolution field and laboratory measurements indicate that these methods do not take full advantage of the spectral information available. This research demonstrates the use of imaging spectrometer data to identify, characterize, and map urban lighting based on spectral emission lines unique to specific lighting types. ProSpecTIR imaging spectrometer data were analyzed to extract spectral features and these were compared to spectral library measurements on a pixel-by-pixel basis, resulting in a detailed spatial map showing different lighting types. The nature and distribution of lights can be used as a surrogate for measurement of urban development.

Sky Quality Meter, a low cost and pocket size night sky brightness photometer, opens to the general public the possibility to quantify the quality of the night sky. Expecting a large diffusion of measurements taken with this instrument, I tested and characterized it. I analyzed with synthetic photometry and laboratory measurements the relationship between the SQM photometrical system and the main systems used in light pollution studies. I evaluated the conversion factors to Johnsonâs B and V bands, CIE photopic and CIE scotopic responses for typical spectra and the spectral mismatch correction factors when specific filters are added.

Avian mortality at communication towers in the continental United States and Canada is an issue of pressing conservation concern. Previous estimates of this mortality have been based on limited data and have not included Canada. We compiled a database of communication towers in the continental United States and Canada and estimated avian mortality by tower with a regression relating avian mortality to tower height. This equation was derived from 38 tower studies for which mortality data were available and corrected for sampling effort, search efficiency, and scavenging where appropriate. Although most studies document mortality at guyed towers with steady-burning lights, we accounted for lower mortality at towers without guy wires or steady-burning lights by adjusting estimates based on published studies. The resulting estimate of mortality at towers is 6.8 million birds per year in the United States and Canada. Bootstrapped subsampling indicated that the regression was robust to the choice of studies included and a comparison of multiple regression models showed that incorporating sampling, scavenging, and search efficiency adjustments improved model fit. Estimating total avian mortality is only a first step in developing an assessment of the biological significance of mortality at communication towers for individual species or groups of species. Nevertheless, our estimate can be used to evaluate this source of mortality, develop subsequent per-species mortality estimates, and motivate policy action.